San Mateo County

Margaret Lavin: Elfenworks builds hope in San Mateo and beyond

By Margaret Lavin

San Mateo County Times

Posted:
10/01/2013 10:38:57 AM PDT

Updated:
10/01/2013 10:38:57 AM PDT

Burlingame-based Elfenworks (http://elfenworks.org) recently held its seventh annual "In Harmony With Hope" awards ceremony. In the backdrop of the stately Kohl Mansion, Bay Area news anchor Wendy Tokuda introduced three social entrepreneurs who are providing inspiration and hope to our most vulnerable populations and communities.

Andrew Yang is founder of Venture for America (http://ventureforamerica.org). VFA recruits the best and brightest college grads to work for two years at emerging startups and early-stage companies in lower-cost cities like Detroit, Providence and New Orleans. Modeled after Teach for America, Venture for America provides a path for entrepreneurship to college grads who want to learn how to build companies and create jobs. "We are driving talented, aspiring entrepreneurs to cities that need an economic boost," Yang said. "If you're a young person looking to make your mark, cities like Detroit, Baltimore and New Orleans present great startup opportunities to both contribute and develop.

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" Their immediate goal is to generate 100,000 new U.S. jobs by 2025 by helping growth companies expand and training a critical mass of top graduates to become business builders and job creators.

Dr. Gary Slutkins is an epidemiologist with expertise in combating infectious diseases around the world. Founder of Cure Violence (http://cureviolence.org), Slutkins takes a radically different approach to stemming violence in American cities. He diagnoses violence as a disease that has the same characteristics as epidemics such as cholera and tuberculosis and can be cured in the same manner. His approach is taken directly from the public health model. Like any infectious disease, first transmission must be interrupted; second, those at greatest risk of becoming infected must be identified; and third, social norms must be changed. According to a case study by U.S. Department of Justice and Northwestern University, the Cure Violence model has reduced violence in every neighborhood it operates in by up to 34 percent, and even more impressive, the program successfully cut retaliatory homicides by 100 percent.

Christa Gannon is founder of Fresh Lifelines for Youth (http://flyprogram.org). This local nonprofit is dedicated to breaking the cycle of violence, crime and incarceration of teens. Each year, FLY helps 2,000 youth who are part of the Santa Clara and San Mateo juvenile justice system or at risk of entering the system.

The cost benefit alone is remarkable. FLY's most expensive program is about $13,000 a year. During that program year, approximately 80 percent of the kids in the program are not found delinquent of a new charge, and 80 percent are enrolled in and attending school. Compare that with California's juvenile justice system in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. The cost at each facility is $525 dollars per child, per night, which is roughly $190,000 per year. Furthermore, according to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, youth offenders return from the Division of Juvenile Facilities with a staggering 80 percent chance of re-offending within three years. Talk about a dismal return on investment.

With so much of the focus on Congress, whose members are acting like overindulged, irresponsible juveniles, I'm happy to bring attention to these brave innovators, battling our country's most difficult and complex issues. They are on the right side of history, raising awareness and hope wherever they lead. They understand, as did Martin Luther King Jr., what we all must come to realize of America's underprivileged and underrepresented, "that their destiny is tied up with our destiny ... that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone."